Bible Person

Bilshan

Meaning: in the tongue · Male · 2 cross references

Bilshan is a returnee leader named with Zerubbabel in the Ezra-Nehemiah lists. He belongs to the cohort of figures whose names anchor the memory of the first return after exile. First appears in Ezra 2:2.1

AI summary: Bilshan matters because the cross references place him in the short list of named companions associated with the foundational return from Babylon. These leaders help turn the restoration from a general event into a remembered movement carried by identifiable people. Taken together, the material presents Bilshan as a returnee figure whose name contributes to the historical concreteness of post-exilic restoration.1

Central Figure

Bilshan

Meaning: in the tongue

Son of the tongue; i.e., “eloquent”, a man of some note who returned from the Captivity with Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:2; Neh.